The first obligation placed on an employee is to follow the provisions of their employment agreement. The employment agreement may say that the employee has to bring any grievance they may have to the attention of the employer so that they are given an opportunity to fix the problem first. In many cases the employee doesn’t do this, shoots from the hip, files a personal grievance and gets told to go back and discuss things with their employer first.
If after those initial discussions things are not resolved the employee can then say to the employer “I have a personal grievance about this, and I want it resolved in this manner.”
The obligation on the employee is to do this (that is raise a personal grievance) within 90 days of the grievance arising. So, for example, if you say you have been unjustifiably dismissed you have 90 days to raise a personal grievance .The Employment Relations Act allows personal grievances to be brought outside of this 90 day period but to do so the employer must agree or there must be exceptional circumstances and the Employment Relations Authority thinks it just to allow an extension to the time.
So – it’s no good going to a lawyer 5 months after you have been treated in a way that disadvantages you and ask for a grievance to be raised – you need to do something within 90 days or risk being told that you are out of time.
Business People - Getting Paid
In the current economic environment getting paid in full and on time is critical. Now is a good time to review and update terms of trade, and debtor management practices. Trade debtors need to be conscious of their duties to creditors, and should act quickly if they start seeing signs of distress.
Your terms of trade should:
• be in writing and signed (or assented to in writing) by the debtor;
• enable you to undertake credit checks and require references;
• may include a personal guarantee;
• provide for interest on late payments at a rate that ensures you are not the “banker of last resort”;
• indemnify full solicitor/client costs and collection costs;
• include a “retention of title” (to be effective you must register your security at www.ppsr.govt.nz and update it every 5 years. You should register the security before you provide goods to the debtor).
Review and enforce your debtor management policies and ensure that these are enforced firmly and in a timely fashion.
Consider if you should be reducing credit limits if these have not been used to the full extent. Also ensure your terms of trade are managed tightly. Ensure system generated arrears reports are prepared and reviewed regularly. Consider offering an early discount if payments are made early. If payment reminders are needed, make sure they are sent on time, or (more preferably) telephone the debtor and obtain a specific date for payment.
You may also want to update your standard credit and other checks on key clients. Useful information can be found on Government websites such as www.companies.govt.nz.
